How Coby Tablets Work

Like many tablets, these Coby models have built-in sensors that can sense their orientation in space, letting you move the tablets from side to side to control gaming action, among other functions.

Courtesy of Coby

Kryos tablets are among the most economical tablets available. Their specification sheets reflect this reality, with less robust hardware and overall computing power.

All three models have 1GHz processors (Samsung's Cortex A8 chip) and 4GB of internal memory, which is expandable to 32GB via the microSDHC flash card port. They include a mini-HDMI port (but no cable) that lets you display content, such as 1080p HD video, on an HDTV. You'll also find a front-facing camera, physical navigation buttons, a standard WiFi adapter, a microphone and built-in speakers. The rechargeable battery is of the lithium-polymer variety, which Coby says will net you around 10 hours of audio playback, or 4 to 6 hours of YouTube.

The biggest point of differentiation is the touch screen that comes with each model. The first number of each will clue you in to the size of its screen. Here's the breakdown:

The lowest-cost version (the MID7024, with 800 by 480 resolution) has a 7-inch screen.

The midrange (MID8024, 800 by 600 resolution) has an 8-incher.

The MID1024 (1024 by 600 resolution) has a 10-inch screen.

Besides their varying screens, how do Coby tablets stack up (against each other and other tablets on the market) in terms of size and weight?

Each version also comes with a mini-USB 2.0 port. This port is useful for transferring data to and from the tablet, and with the included host adapter USB cable, you can plug in devices with full-size USB connectors, such as flash drives. You can connect a mouse or even a full-sized USB keyboard for times when you need to do a lot of typing, although a few keys (such as Function keys) don't play nicely with Android.

On paper, the 1GHz processor is similar, speed-wise, to the chip found in the original iPad. However, Apple's chip was customized for the iPad system as a whole, so it's unlikely that users can expect the same kind of snappy performance in the Coby tablets. And where Apple's chip was optimized to offer power-sipping performance to prolong the battery charge, Coby makes no such claims.

Coby's tablet features are pretty basic, but what about its accessories? Keep reading to find out what the Kyros tablets offer out of the box.